Visiting A Restored Shaker Village Is Simply A Step Back In Time

HANCOCK, MASS. — This year marks the 25th anniversary of the restoration and reopening of Hancock Shaker Village here in the picturesque Berkshire Hills five miles west of Pittsfield.

Special events all summer and fall commemorate that milestone: candlelit tours, dramatic readings from Shaker letters and diaries, Shaker music, demonstrations of Shaker crafts and a Shaker cooking festival.

A neat little village whose plain, rectilinear buildings contrast sharply with the surrounding hills, Hancock was the third of 18 communities established by the Shakers throughout the Northeastern and Midwestern United States from 1776 to 1830.

The movement began in Manchester, England, when a small group separated from the Quaker sect. The members` aims were a life of simplicity, separation from the rest of ``The World,`` common property, confession of sin, and celibacy.

They believed the Second Coming was imminent and thus, called themselves the United Society of Believers in Christ`s Second Appearing. But because their worship services included seizures, trances and ritualistic dancing, others called them Shaking Quakers or simply Shakers.

In 1774, nine Shakers, forced by persecution, came to America, where they quickly won many converts.

Hancock was established in 1790 and continued until 1960 when the last three Shaker sisters, as women members of the sect are known, left the community, and its 974 acres and 21 buildings were sold to a nonprofit corporation that restored the village and opened it to the public.

At its peak--in the 1830s--Hancock`s agriculture-based economy, supplemented by some manufacturing, enabled the sect to become almost self-sufficient.

Visitors begin in the rustic-but-modern reception center decorated with blow-up photographs and quotes from previous visitors. The village was a tourist attraction as long ago as the 1840s. Charles Dickens, miffed because the Shakers barred him from their services, wrote: `` . . . we walked into a grim room, where several grim hats were hanging on grim pegs, and the time was grimly told by a grim clock.``

Posted in the center are special events for the day, the locations of crafts demonstrations and details about guided tours. Then it`s only a few steps to the brick poultry house where a short slide show provides background on the Shakers.

The bricks of the poultry house attest to the high regard Shakers had for their livestock. Even more impressive is the stone barn (1826), a cylindrical limestone structure designed so that one man, working in a circle, could feed and water the cattle.

The building that gives the greatest insight into the Shakers` daily life is the brick dwelling house. Built in 1830 to house 46 brethren and 48 sisters, it was divided--socially--into separate but equal rooms and areas for eating, sleeping and worshipping.

The building, with its 245 cupboards and 369 built-in drawers, is a study in functional design and simplicity. Staircase balustrades are unembellished. Plain, black woodstoves contrast with yellow pine floors. And conservative

--not grim--hats and cloaks hang from simple wooden pegs.

Next door is the Brethrens` Shop, where broom-making is demonstrated and a tinsmith hammers out sconces and other tinware sold in the gift shop. In the same building is the clockmaker`s shop in which Brother Ricardo Belden, the last male Hancock Shaker, worked 10 hours a day, six days a week, until his death in 1958.

In striking contrast to the simple symmetry of the other Shaker buildings is the trustees` house, a rambling Victorian structure with tower, Palladian windows and porches. Inside are such un-Shaker-like features as flowered wallpaper, lace curtains and over-stuffed furniture.

The Shakers were fine craftsmen with a national reputation for honesty. Their manufactured goods found a ready market throughout the East. One of the more profitable enterprises was the raising and selling of medicinal herbs and garden seeds. In a room above the laundry and machine shop, visitors can see how the herbs and seeds were dried, sorted and packaged.

From 1830 to 1850 a wave of revivalism spread through Shaker communities, and some members received ``messages and gifts from God,`` which they recorded in verse and inspirational drawings. About a quarter of these decorative art works--the Shakers` only pure art form--is displayed in a gallery of the brick poultry house.

After 1840 the population of Hancock began to decline, in part because overzealous reforms caused many members to leave. Then, too, the coming of the industrial age made self-sufficiency more difficult. With the number of converts dwindling and their practice of adopting orphans failing, the Shakers were forced to hire outside workers, some of whom were left to their ``tobacco and strong drink`` in spartan rooms over the Printer`s Shop.

Despite the ultimate failure of this utopian society, it should be remembered that this community of hardworking, honest people who believed in pacifism and a life of simplicity, lasted for 170 years.

Hancock Shaker Village is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 25 to Oct. 31. Admission is $5.50 for adults, $2 for children 6-12, under 6 free, $12 for families, and $5 for students and the elderly.

There is a lunch shop (soups and sandwiches) in the reception center, a picnic area in the village and a gift shop selling Shaker-style furniture, prints, herbs, notecards, etc.